Well, I found I had to go east, and determined to put off my business
for a day or two so I could stop over and see how he is getting on."

"You may see him. But you must remember that he isn't strong and needs
quietness."

"I'll be very careful," Walters said with a grateful look. "May I take
it that your consent is a sign that you'll try to forgive me for my
share in the accident?"

Lucy forced a smile. "We'll see how you keep your promise."

She sat down, feeling rather limp, when he left her. He had, on the
surface, taken a very proper line, and his excuse for coming was
plausible, but she knew that it was false. The man had meant to leave
her lover to freeze among the rocks and was horribly clever. It was
hard to preserve her calm when she hated and feared him, and although
she thought she had not acted badly, the interview had been trying.
Besides, Lawrence was generous and not very discriminating. Walters
might find a way of disarming the suspicions Foster had roused.

When the page showed Walters to his room, he said to the lad, "I want
somebody to go to the station for my bag. Have they a telegraph
office?"

"Yep; I'm going down to send a wire. Office isn't open long. Agent
quits as soon as the east-bound freight comes through."

"I suppose the wire's from Miss Stephen?"

The page nodded and Walters gave him twenty-five cents. "Well, if you
can wait a little, I'll have a message to send; it will save you a
journey."

The boy hesitated; but the money banished his doubts. "All right;
you'd better get it written. The freight's nearly due."

Walters went to Lawrence's room before he wrote the telegram, and met
Lucy again at dinner. There were only two tables in use in the large
dining-room, and the waiter sent him to Mrs. Stephen's. Lucy wondered
whether Walters had arranged this with the man beforehand, but it gave
her an opportunity of watching him and she did not object. She
admitted that he had nerve and tact, for although she feared him and
her mother shared her distrust, he was able to banish the constraint
both felt and amuse the party. Lucy could not tell what Lawrence
thought, but he laughed at the other's stories and now and then
bantered him.

After dinner Walters left them and when they went; to Mrs. Stephen's
sitting-room Lucy remarked rather sharply: "You seemed to find Walters
amusing!"

"He is amusing," Lawrence answered. "In fact, the fellow puzzles me."

"You me